Oct 26, 2013 | 31 Days, The Good Word
Hello friend! I’m so glad you’ve stopped by! This post is part of a 31-Day writing adventure, of which I’m nearly done! I’d love for you to meet up ’round here and read along for the rest of the series (and beyond…). You can find the introduction to the series, and a “Table of Contents” as each day goes live, right here. Thanks so much for dropping in!
Back before the Bear started reading so nicely, he loved to pretend to read. He had one particular book about Thomas the Train memorized and could “read” it cover to cover. My personal favorite, however, was his lose translation of the story of “David and Juh-liath” as he pronounced it. Even in his simple, heavily paraphrased version of the simple, paraphrased Children’s Bible version, the message still rang loud and clear:
The God of the Universe is a God who uses the brother at the back of the line that nobody expects, the little guy who wasn’t even called to go fight in the army, but was instead left home to tend sheep. God chooses the little guy to slay the giant. God is a God of unconventional wisdom, making unexpected choices which bring about incredible results.
And if you think about it, although we lean very heavily on conventional wisdom, as a society, we still love, and even crave the unexpected lifting of an underdog, the stories where the guy who nobody thought would make it blew everybody away.
The story of Nicholas Vujicic is a fantastic example. He was born in 1982 with no arms or legs. You’ve probably already seen one of his inspirational messages on youtube. Nick has overcome obstacles we might never even dream of just to keep living, breathing and being. {Image source}
He founded an organization called Life Without Limbs, and this is how his website describes it:
God can use a Life Without Limbs
to show the world how to live a
Life Without Limits
Nick has been traveling the world (44 countries so far) to speak to millions of people and share his story. He says, “My greatest joy in this life is to introduce Jesus to those I meet and tell them of His great desire to get to know them personally by allowing Him to become their Lord and Savior. That’s what Life Without Limbs is all about.” {From the Life Without Limits website}
The world would look at a baby born with no arms and legs and wonder: what purpose can he possibly achieve? He’ll never be able to do this or that, someone will always have to do this and that for him… what on Earth is he here for? We might see it as a mistake in the heavenlies: a time when the Lord just plain messed up.
But take a second look. God has used this man with no arms and limbs, but with enough heart for three people, to do what I’d consider the most important job there is on this Earth: He is telling people around the world how much God loves them. He is telling people around the world about the salvation they can find in Jesus Christ.
Before you lean on your own wisdom, and make your own assessments about what’s possible with your life, remember that, in His glorious goodness, God constantly surprises us with His unconventional wisdom.
Paul described it this way:
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. {1 Cor. 1:27-29}
Before you make a hasty assessment of what can or can’t be done, even in your own life — remember God uses Davids to slay Goliaths. Trust Him, and lean on His infinite and unconventional wisdom to make your life story unexpectedly glorious.
xCC
Oct 25, 2013 | 31 Days, The Good Word
Hello friend! Glad you stopped by! This post is part of a 31-Day writing adventure, of which I’m nearly done! I’d love for you to meet up ’round here and read along for the rest of the series (and beyond…). You can find the introduction to the series, and a “Table of Contents” as each day goes live, right here. Thanks so much for dropping in!
Among the myriad of stories the Hubs has from his travels far and wide, there’s a particular tale from his time in Scotland before we met that resonates so much with my soul every time he tells it. He was doing an adventure race in the dead of winter. He and his teammates were trudging over snowy highland peaks around Braeriach, the third highest peak in the British Isles. It was hiking, running, and cycling for a weekend, and they were hoping to be among the first to cross the finish line.
I imagine it was simultaneously incredibly beautiful and ridiculously cold.
At one particular rest stop, a teammate was preparing the rations of MREs (you know… the Meal, Ready-to-Eat army supply things?) and didn’t add enough water to the food as he prepared it. Not realizing what had happened, a very hungry and tired Hero Hubs gobbled up his MRE, and quickly realized — by the significant pain in his stomach that something. was. not. right.
Because it wasn’t.
Any water he drank felt like it was absorbed by the dehydrated food sticking to his gut, and if he tried to drink too much, he felt he would be sick. The next leg of the race was his to conquer — traversing a significant stretch of mountainous path in the snow. Already tired, and now the worst kind of sick he had ever felt in his life, he was armed with a packet of gummy bears, and not wanting to knock his team out of the race, prepared to go on.
The slow release of sugar in slowly eating the gummy bears one at a time seemed enough of a boost to help him trudge along, and he began to whisper to himself with each step: You just have to put one foot in front of the other. You just have to put one foot in front of the other.
It was the longest, most challenging, most soul-stretching walk of his life, but he managed to make it to the next changeover, with the help of those gummy bears and the words that kept him going: Just put one foot in front of the other.
His team didn’t come in first by a longshot, but they finished the race.
Whether it’s a challenge-yourself-good adventure race or a job that it’s hard to keep doing or a season that seems like it’s never going to end, there are times when we feel like the idea of taking another step is just awful.
You might be in one of those moments right now.
For one reason or another it almost hurts just to keep breathing and the end, well, right now, it just isn’t in sight.
I’d encourage you to look for your gummy bears in a very safe place — search for the goodness, the sweetness of God. Look high and low with your every day for reasons to give thanks. Give thanks for the way the light streams through a window. Give thanks for a piece of pine straw, caught in a spider web and floating in a breeze. Give thanks for the ability to give thanks — the mental capacity to ponder the concept of thankfulness itself is a privilege.
And then? Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. The Jesus who humbled himself to a criminal’s crucifixion can absolutely relate to the cross you are bearing. And on the other side of the cross, there is always a Resurrection.
A.W. Tozer points out the important connection Paul made between the humbling and the exalting of Jesus from Philippians 2: 5-11:
“‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.’
But notice the next word: “Wherefore.”
‘Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess…!’
This is why I believe God will crucify without pity those whom He desires to raise without measure!” {Excerpt from I Talk Back to the Devil}
Isn’t that an encouraging thought? You are being brought low to be raised up again.
I don’t know what cross you’re carrying today friend. But my encouragement to you is, one foot in front of the other, keep carrying it. There is redemption, there is life, there is being-lifted-by-the-only-One-who-truly-lifts on the other side.
xCC
Oct 24, 2013 | 31 Days, The Good Word
Hello there! Glad you stopped by! This post is part of a 31-Day writing adventure, of which I’m in the third quarter! I’d love for you to meet up ’round here and read along. You can find the introduction to the series, and a “Table of Contents” as each day goes live, right here. Thanks so much for dropping in!
For a couple of years before the fall of 2013 — maybe even three or four years, mind you — one particular thought was swimming in the back of my mind. The Hubs and I had had lots of discussions about it, and as daunting as it seemed, the still small voice of the Lord seemed to consistently whisper that homeschooling was the path He wanted us to take.
But as the fall of 2013 approached, and as we neared the Bear’s 5th birthday, I was grabbing at straws for alternatives to homeschool. We pondered putting him in the local Christian academy and were almost certain that was what we were going to do. At another stage, we planning on enrolling him in public school, and it really seemed like that was going to happen when September rolled around.
Then, a chance conversation with an old friend stirred that whisper in me again, and I realized I’d be running. She talked about homeschooling her eldest, what it looked like for her family, and how great it had been so far. More important, she talked about the reasons she’d decided to homeschool, and they resonated so deeply in me — they were words that had even come out of my own mouth at other stages, when I’d felt confident we were going to homeschool and wasn’t yet vacillating.
Finally, with just a couple of months left before traditional school started, I dove in. I couldn’t shake the deep sense that this was the Lord. I spoke with more friends, asked for advice, ordered curriculum, and kicked things off gradually in September.
Almost two months into my career as a homeschooler, I am so, so grateful we made this decision. It is a privilege to get to teach this clever little guy who happens to also be mine. His reading ability (which was already very good) has improved so significantly just in this month and a half that I get that warm fuzzy proud Mama feeling just thinking about it.
I’ve discovered that he really, really loves science and am beginning to make science a doorway into connecting with him in other subjects. We do experiments and nature journal. We play games to help him understand math concepts. He writes letters in rice or shaving cream while I sound out the associate phonogram during spelling time.
If he needs extra rest, he can have it. He doesn’t have to wake up early to get dressed and fed and out the door for school each morning. And the Bear hibernates, y’all. He falls asleep shortly after his 7 o’clock bedtime and sometimes still sleeps past 7 o’clock the next morning.
He gets to play outside between subjects, bake in the kitchen to talk about fractions… and so much of our work is hands on.
It is exciting to see him flourishing.
Now I’m about to get really honest with you — because homeschooling is not what this blog post is about, and I’m putting my money where my proverbial mouth is.
I think one of the biggest reasons I didn’t want to homeschool — and almost didn’t — was because I cared about what other people thought. There were people close to me whose opinions I valued that didn’t agree with the idea. There were also people I am not very close to whose opinions I didn’t even know but assumed were probably negative, and that bothered me. The practical strangers and acquaintances in our small town who might think we are totally weird for choosing to homeschool our kid when it’s not very common around here? Those were the voices that I almost let make my decision for me.
How sad is that?
I almost completely missed the opportunity to enjoy something very special with my kid for however long the Lord leads us to do it this way, simply because I was afraid of what other people thought.
More important, I almost disobeyed what I truly believe the Lord was calling me to do because I cared about what other people thought.
This morning I spent some time thinking about the things that we humans do, specifically based on our concern of what other people think about us.
We do it to ourselves, and it starts young. How many young people actually want to walk the line and behave well, but cave to peer pressure because they feel the need to fit in?
But it doesn’t end once we finish high school or college and enter the ‘real world’. That’s really when things start warming up. Because keeping up appearances becomes so important to us that we will buy a house we can’t afford and drive a car we can’t pay for with money we don’t have — as it’s been said before — to impress people we don’t like.
We care so much about other people’s opinions, we are willing to jeopardize our financial stability, our marriages, our parenting, all for the sake of not wanting to seem weird.
Dave Ramsey has a great course for helping people take control of their finances. In the Total Money Makeover, he speaks to this trend and says “We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like” and instead encourages people to change their spending habits, work aggressively to get out of debt and get in control. He says,
“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”
It is very, very hard to make it in this world if your constant concern for your every decision is what other people’s perceptions of that decision will be. And with the way we live our lives and post our photos and share our every thought on social media, we are perhaps becoming more and more concerned with our public appearance.
Care to march to the beat of your own drummer?
{Image via Piccsy}
But there is an alternative to this madness. And He has a name.
What would you think if I told you there’s only one opinion that really matters? Would you maybe agree, but not change the way that you’re living with other people’s opinions at heart? What if, in light of eternity, we each decided that only one opinion really does matter — and we need to start living that way? How amazing might the people of God begin to look to the world?
Here’s the thing. There is really only one opinion that really matters. You and I have the privilege of being invited into a relationship with the Creator of the Universe. He is gloriously good. {See previous 23 posts for further evidence…} And He will love you regardless of what clothes you wear, what you have in your bank account or what kind of car you drive.
And He has plans for you that might not take you down a path that looks like a big bank account and fancy cars. But. If you are willing to let Him take you down the path He has for you, I can promise you it will be an adventure and you’ll look back on it with thankfulness.
Before Jesus arrived on the scene it was said that He would:
… give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.” {Luke 1:77-79, emphasis added}
The decisions you make each day are yours to make, friends. The challenge is not to let the world make them for you. You were made, you were created, for so much more than just being a shadow of who you think the world wants you to be. If you will live the life you were created to live, if you allow the Lord to guide your feet each day — wow, there is such a beautiful path planned out for you. A path of peace, a light to shine.
xCC
Oct 23, 2013 | 31 Days, The Good Word
Hello there! Glad you stopped by! This post is part of a 31-Day writing adventure, of which I’m in the third quarter! I’d love for you to meet up ’round here and read along. You can find the introduction to the series, and a “Table of Contents” as each day goes live, right here. Thanks so much for dropping in!
Looking back on the years that I’ve taken following Jesus seriously, I wish somewhere back at the beginning, I’d started a special journal devoted solely to recording the many, many moments where I’ve sensed the nearness of God as He has provided something I waited for and taught me to trust Him in the process.
I mentioned before that we moved a few months ago. And we moved into a house that didn’t have a dishwasher, or even a space appropriate for putting a dishwasher. The space on either side of the kitchen sink was too narrow, there was no water hookup anywhere near one free spot in the kitchen, the ‘peninsula’ (as in, not an island… that makes sense right?) where my stove and lots of cupboards live, faces the sink and might seem an obvious choice, but with limited cupboard space, it just seems wrong to knock out two cupboards to put it there.
We ummed and ahhhhed for ages about the right spot for a dishwasher. In the meantime, my Mom has blessed me beyond belief by washing dishes almost every time she is here, the Hubs has helped lots and often, and I have drawn nearer to the Lord while thanking Him that I have a window to look out while I wash dishes by hand.
{I know not having a dishwasher is a first world problem and try to keep that in perspective.}
We’d finally selected a dishwasher that seemed like the right one at the right price, and figured out where it would probably go. On the website, Lowes said they had it in stock, so off we went to purchase our dishwasher — an exciting event. We got there, and quickly discovered the website was wrong. The dishwasher was not in stock.
We stood long, the baby astride my hip, and looked at the other dishwashers, but weren’t really ready to make a decision about a different one (the Hubs is very good about reading reviews and making good shopping choices). So we left empty-handed, and gosh, that sure what a bummer!
It was time to trust the Lord was at work when we had to go back to the drawing board.
A few days later, my Mom was on the phone with a funny bit of news: a friend of hers wanted to know if we wanted her dishwasher. It worked perfectly fine, but she wanted a new one to match the other appliances in her kitchen.
Om… yes!
Not having to actually buy the dishwasher made having to pay a plumber to run a line under the house so we could install it in a new spot and a carpenter to build the cabinet around the dishwasher (really… this seems to be the only way) a much more manageable project.
We sensed the Lord’s kindness in the delay… He showed us how trustworthy He is.
Do you ever simply ask the Lord for something? I don’t always remember to ask, but I know I’d spoken to Him about that dishwasher more than a few times. When something seems missing or you’re looking at a bill you’re not sure how you’re going to pay, is your natural inclination to lean on your own self-sufficiency or to trust?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. {Prov. 3:5-6}
Trusting often requires a patience that is not in line with our modern way of thinking. We are members of Amazon Prime and enjoy the benefit of free two-day shipping on almost anything we order. While I used to wait weeks, even months for a package to make its way from the USA to South Africa, now with a point and click on Monday, I can count on seeing UPS roll up around lunchtime Wednesday.
When we order something somewhere else and have to wait more than three or four days, we now think Gosh, this sure is taking forever!! When will it BE here!!
The Lord, however, is not a dressed-in-brown-delivery-guy ready to answer your every whim and request. He absolutely does give good gifts to His children and it is good to turn to Him and to ask.
There are three answers my kids often get when they ask for something: Yes, No or Not Now, and I imagine it is the same for us. God has our best interests at heart when He says each of those three things.
Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to ask (and sometimes to keep on asking) to trust (and keep on trusting) and to wait to see the Lord make His will a present reality. He is so trustworthy.
Have you seized an opportunity to trust and wait on God? I’d love to hear what happened in the comments!
xCC
Oct 22, 2013 | 31 Days, The Good Word
Hello there! Glad you stopped by! This post is part of a 31-Day writing adventure, of which I’m in the third quarter! I’d love for you to meet up ’round here and read along. You can find the introduction to the series, and a “Table of Contents” as each day goes live, right here. Thanks so much for dropping in!
You know what isn’t particularly fun? Trying to manage a household of small people without a voice. I have scarcely thanked the Lord for my voice, but man, what a challenge it is when I don’t have it!
Yesterday I woke up with my throat feeling much better {yay!}, but without a voice {harumph!}. I could scratch out raspy whispers when necessary, did a bit of signing and motioning to communicate sometimes, and occasionally somehow pushed through a deep and bellowy holler when the situation really, really, really called for it. But that kind of hurt so I tried to keep that to a minimum.
HH works from home on Mondays, so fortunately he was able to communicate in a lot of the areas where I wasn’t. He also read the literature book for homeschool story time for me — big help! Hoping I’ll find somebody reading it on youtube today…
You know how there are those days where you just kind of feel ‘in a funk’? Yesterday was one of those days. I don’t think it had too much to do with me not having a voice, although that didn’t help. It felt like there were lots of things on the to-do list and the little people around were making it difficult, and as much as we love each other, sometimes my precious Hubs and I struggle to communicate in a way that really puts us on the same page.
Even though I made chicken salad and artisan bread
for lunch (special!), we crossed some things off the list that had been waiting months for us to cross them off, we captured ELEVEN months photos of the Belle, and did so many other things, the day just wasn’t happy… it was missing joy.
And here’s the funny conclusion I’ve come to, retrospectively:
Even when you don’t have a voice, you still have a voice.
What was really missing yesterday, for me, was just taking those small, continual moments — those slivers of negative space — to remember that God is present, willing to lead and guide and just breathe life and peace into every situation.
If I will use that little voice in my heart to direct my soul’s attention toward Him, He can bring such a refreshing, such a peace, so much presence.
Today is always a new day, and it is always a day that happens on purpose.
Regardless of what hurts or frustrations come your way, completely regardless of your circumstances, there is still the potential for you to experience joy today. I often find it in the place where I turn my heart to the Lord and use that inner voice to just start thanking Him for whatever comes to mind.
A little bubble from the dish suds catches flight and soars around my kitchen before disappearing. The silly, noisy goose down at the pond near our house, honking furiously because the ducks are flying off and he isn’t sure how to follow. A glimpse of the Jeannie B out my window — a big and beautiful ship — taking passengers for a sail on the river.
And the awesome Hubs who does so much for our family, for me, who is such a great father to our kids, the Hubs I’m so glad found me. And the three small people, although they are a little tough now and then, we often wonder together what our lives would be like without them. They are gifts of joy in tiny packages.
Look high, look low — you can always find a reason to give thanks.
David once asked the Lord:
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast. {Psalm 139: 7-10}
As a child I think the idea that the Lord was always watching, always present kind of freaked me out. Like, He sees me when I take my sister’s hairbrush? But now, I see that His choice to be omnipresent is a gloriously good unexpected gift.
There is no kitchen sink I’ve stood long at where He hasn’t stood beside me.
There’s no late-night baby-rocking session He isn’t present for.
There is no hospital room He’s never visited. Thank you, thank you, Lord.
Whether you sense His presence or not, He is here. Remember that, even if you’re in a meeting at work and can’t really pray aloud (might be awkward), or you’re on the train somewhere (also awkward) or you’re in front of a classroom of kids, or you’ve just plain lost your voice altogether, you still have that inner voice to do with what you want.
You are still able to take a snippet of a moment for your soul to say It is well, Lord, no matter what it is well, or thank you for Your presence or Lord, I need You.
He commands the universe with His voice, but He is closer than a phone call to yours.
Don’t forget your voice today, friends.
xCC
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